Primetime Promises
by bighaircut
Summary: Madge Undersee was never my biggest fan.  At least, not that I knew of.  Since everything's gone to hell, I've found out about a lot of secrets she kept from me.  GalexMadge
1. Chapter 1

**A/N & Disclaimer:** _Okay, so I haven't written fanfiction in forever and a half. Here goes.  
__Clearly anything you may recognize from The Hunger Games series belongs to Suzanne Collins.  


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**INTRO**

Three days. That was all the time it took for me to fall for her. Three days for her to steal my heart when I didn't even realize it was still mine to hold onto. I still remember every hour we spent together those first three days. I don't think I could ever forget. And those memories are the most important ones I've got now. Three days changed my life. And the promise I made at the end of them is the only thing forcing me to keep living.

**DAY ONE**

Madge Undersee was never my biggest fan. At least, not that I knew of. Since everything's gone to hell, I've found out about a lot of secrets she kept from me. She had no problem sharing those secrets with my little brother. Rory stayed after school sometimes for tutoring with her. Turns out they were more like heart-to-heart sessions than tutoring after the first couple of weeks, but I can't really be annoyed about that now. District 12's school system lacked a lot in the way of useful knowledge. And since I never intended on letting Rory grow up to be a miner anyway, he could pull average grades in his classes all about the subject. Nothing he learned in 12 mattered much in the end; now that the world has been turned upside down, we've all got a lot to learn.

Apparently that little puke knew how to scheme, though. He invited her over to watch the Games with us two days after they'd started. He'd been telling her—to my absolute horror—that watching Katniss in a fight for her life every day and night kind of shook me up. Go figure. And Rory insisted that since we were both friends with Katniss, maybe we'd feel better if we could, I dunno, share our feelings or something. It didn't go exactly as he'd planned. I may or may not have made a comment about the coal dust on the doormat ruining her crisp, clean dress. And then I might have sneered at her attempts to compliment our home. There was also that comment I made about her being allergic to the working class… apparently the proper response to a sneeze is actually, "Bless you." What the hell did I know?

To her credit, the girl ignored my shithead comments and ridiculous attitude. She settled into my spot on the couch between Posy and Rory. Of course that left only the floor for me, but the further from Madge, the better. Posy was immediately enamored. Of course. I love my little sister, but I could practically feel the bile rising in my throat as she raved about Madge's pretty golden hair, and her beauuuutiful blue dress, and the shiny silver buckles on her shoes. Who knew shoe buckles could impress a four-year-old so much? I knew how I'd have dealt with Vick or Rory. A swift smack to the back of their heads would've put an end to that crap. Since it was Posy, though… well, let's just say Posy's inaugural Madge Undersee fan club meeting nearly ended with vomit on my mother's freshly cleaned living room rug. But something shut her up just in time. Something that made me wish I could listen to her baby voice cooing over a merchant girl for days rather than watch the television for another minute. The live feed of the Games had begun again.

Hazelle didn't let the kids stay up late. She hated making them watch the Games at all, but she wanted them to have something to talk about in case it came up in school. The last thing the Hawthornes needed was shit from the higher ups over not watching the mandatory broadcast. She followed them to bed after ordering me to make sure Madge got home okay. _Yes, mother, I'll make sure the merchant girl doesn't get assaulted in the big, scary, dangerous Seam. Don't worry._Ugh. As if Madge's invasion of my home wasn't bad enough, now I had to walk her back into town in the middle of the night? Rory didn't tell me I'd be babysitting.

"I can't believe that's really her," Madge sighed. Since my super mature greetings earlier, she'd basically ignored me. But everyone else had gone to bed. Time to make conversation, Gale. Now, if only I could come up with something to say. I glanced back at the TV to see Katniss setting up her bed once again, too exhausted to keep running even when it was the safest option. Her usual braid contained most of her long, thick hair, but a few strands had broken away and clung to the sweat on her face. Her steely eyes looked frenzied rather than focused with each snap of a twig or shifting wind. And she'd developed this nervous habit of gnawing on her bottom lip. All small changes. Most people probably wouldn't even notice. But it didn't look like the Katniss I knew. She looked terrified. Not that I could blame her. It just pissed me off… that the Capitol could do this to her or anyone else. It was wrong. Especially because it was my Catnip.

"Me neither," I admitted. There. A genuine response not laced with sarcasm or scorn. Eh… it was a start.

Madge pushed her fingers through her blonde curls and frowned at the television. "It's not fair. This whole thing… it's always been cruel, but… Katniss and Peeta. How are they going to live with themselves after this?"

"What the hell do you know about fair?" I snapped before I could censor myself.

Madge looked wounded. I mean genuinely hurt. She'd looked ruffled before, even annoyed with my snarky remarks or biting comments. But the real pain in her eyes now seriously made me regret opening my stupid mouth. "This was a mistake," she mumbled, pushing herself off the shoddy, sunken cushions and heading for the door.

"Wait… shit, no, I… just wait," I said, grabbing her arm as she reached for the doorknob. _Why am I stopping her? I've wanted her to leave for hours… well, Hazelle did say I had to walk her home._

"What?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the floor. Huh. Probably trying to figure out if those black smudges were coal dust or some intentional decorating choice.

"Hazelle told me to walk you home. Remember? Just let me get my boots on," I covered for my weird behavior. Well… it wasn't weird. That was the truth, right? I just didn't wanna catch hell from my mother. So I'd followed her to the door. Right.

She rolled her eyes and twisted the doorknob. "I'll be fine. If I see Hazelle, I won't tell on you," she said in that same clipped tone she'd used just days before. _"Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?"_ How I managed to keep my cool, I'll never be certain. My blood boiled. As though the mayor's daughter ever really had to worry about suffering through the Hunger Games. Undersee probably snuck her name out of the bowl every year. Nothing would surprise me in this place. All the same, she did come over here in some feeble attempt to be nice tonight, and I sort of owed her at least a walk home… since I didn't exactly play gracious host.

"It's no big deal. Let's go," I finally replied, shrugging my coat onto my shoulders and following her out into the cool night air.

We spent most of the walk in silence, listening to our footsteps clopping along the pavement. Fine by me. I never knew how to talk to Madge. She confused me. And maybe that was why I usually avoided talking to her when we went to sell her strawberries. Katniss thought it was because I had nothing nice to say. But truthfully, I didn't know how to deal with someone like her who could keep up with someone like me. Katniss and I could banter. But Madge could dish my underhanded cruelty right back with a smile playing on her lips, and her pale blue eyes never dropping my gaze. It unnerved me. So I usually just stayed quiet.

When her house loomed in the distance, melting away the darkness as we drew closer, she finally spoke. Her breath puffed out in swirling clouds with each word. "I miss Katniss. Don't you?"

She knew I did. So why ask? "Of course," I answered… because I was too taken aback to be a dick about it. This time.

"So… wouldn't it be easier if we could… be close to someone else who cares about her? I just mean… don't you think it'd hurt a little less if maybe you had someone to lean on?" she asked.

_No._ "I dunno. I'm not much of a leaner," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders. I buried my hands deeper into the pockets of my jacket when she sighed in clear annoyance beside me.

"Gale Hawthorne, you are the most frustrating person I've ever known," she griped at me. Her eyes were burning a hole in the side of my face, but no way was I gonna look at her now. I've never had a way with words, and this conversation had just taken a turn for the way-too-honest.

Thankfully, we'd reached her doorstep. "G'night," I mumbled, turning to head back before she'd even left my side. Her long fingers gripping my arm held me back, though.

"Please, Gale… Rory told me that you always try to take on everything yourself. For once, for the sake of your family, don't try to get through this alone. I miss her, too. And honestly, I don't think anyone around here could understand that like you do. Will you let me watch the Games with you? It's the least we can do for each other now," she said, those big, pale blue eyes of hers finally capturing mine. Shit. How the fuck do I say no to that?

"Fine. Night Madge," I answered. Again, I'm not exactly a wordsmith. But she looked… well, not pleased, but something like it. I'd take that. If it'd get her to stop making embarrassing personal appeals like that, then she could sit on my tattered old couch and listen to my siblings blather about her wonderful Madge-ness forever. What did I care? It wasn't like I had to cry on her shoulder or anything. Christ, if only I'd known what I'd just agreed to.

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**A/N:** _Reviews & criticism are always welcome. Hopefully chapter 2 will be up soon. Thanks for reading!  
And for the Gale/Madge shippers on LJ, you should totally check out the Gale/Madge community PrettyxDress on LiveJournal! [/shamelessplug]_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** It's been an unacceptably long time since I posted a chapter of this story. I've actually had this written for quite a while, but I was trying to finish out the entire second day. It's gotten to the point that it kind of makes more sense to post what I've got and then finish up when this stupid semester is over in two weeks! To anyone who still has interest after all this time, thanks & enjoy! :)

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**DAY TWO (Part 1)**

Honestly, my expectations for her showing up that second day had plummeted to around nothing by the time twilight had settled on the Seam. She'd never said she needed an escort to our house, so I figured she could find her way. It wasn't like I even cared if I got to see her. At least, I kept telling myself that. But Rory had the bright idea of informing Vick and Posy she'd be there, and they were all jazzed about it. If she disappointed my siblings, then fuck that whole good attitude bullshit I'd been trying on. I'd find the words to cut her to pieces if I had to dig to the bottom of the mines for them. Just as I was planning my "fuck you" speech, there was thump on the door. Not exactly a knock. But enough to get my attention.

I swung the door open and saw… "Madge?" I tilted my head and frowned down at her as she knelt on my doorstep gathering things back into a wicker basket. Huh… guess that explained the thump.

"Hi… sorry, I know I'm later than I said I would be, but I just thought the least I could do was bring over some supper… since I'm the one using your television," she said sheepishly. _Yeah, because it's a huge imposition to have someone over to stare at that stupid box for a few hours._ Charity. Great. She'd seen how thin my siblings were, and I guess Hazelle wasn't her best these days either. But it had been a few days since I'd gotten really good hunting in, and I only pulled in half the game I used to. Without Katniss. My shot could use a little work. I decided not to refuse the offer, though my pride was definitely wounded. I just wouldn't let her know that.

"Well, get in here," I said, taking the basket from her hands and ushering her inside.

"Madgey Madge Madge!" Posy crooned, launching her tiny body our direction. Madge caught her clumsily but managed to balance Posy on her hip without tipping over.

"Hi pretty girl," she cooed back. Ugh. I could already tell this was gonna be another girls' night until Posy passed out.

I quickly excused myself from the greetings to set up the food in the kitchen. Okay, so it was only like three steps away, but at least I could ignore them a little easier. I started unpacking the basket that was filled with warm bread, the best fruit, cheese, and milk my family had seen in months, and even a little candy at the very bottom. This was… way too much. I started turning to face her when, suddenly, she was right there at my side, helping separate the food onto plates. I'm sure I jumped… I'd never have lived it down if she'd seen.

"I know it's not much," Madge said idly while piling the plates high with fresh food.

I scoffed. Not much? Was she _trying _to dig at me with that? "Madge, it's too much. They won't know what to do with all this food. They'll get sick," I argued. Though I didn't turn it away. We could always save it. Food, especially this good, was getting harder to come by these days.

She looked up at me, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion or concern or some mixture of the two. Apparently she was already so attached to my siblings that the thought of them getting a stomachache was cause for great alarm. "Should I put some of it away, or…?" she trailed off.

"I'll handle it," I said—well, snapped. It wasn't because I didn't appreciate it. The food, I mean. What I didn't appreciate was the acknowledgement that I'd been having trouble providing for my family. And if someone like Madge could see it, who knew what our neighbors, our friends were thinking when they saw the kids? Maybe I overreacted. But Madge already got under my skin without even trying. So this just added another layer.

I fixed their plates with small helpings of everything but the candy to start with and called them to the table. Even with the miniature portions in comparison to what Madge was doling out, they looked awestruck. Especially Posy. It never took much to get her keyed up anyway. When Hazelle saw the spread, she looked about the way I felt. Embarrassed. Not really able to look Madge in the eye. At least that confirmed I wasn't _completely _out of line. Not that it would've been a new thing for me if I had been.

Dinner was quiet, save for forks scraping plates, and the occasional uncouth chomp out of Vick. Hazelle shot him a look about the third time, and he sheepishly bent his head and started chewing with his mouth closed. Great, now we'd probably have to teach table etiquette so we didn't offend the mayor's daughter. I ventured a peek in Madge's direction and spied the ghost of a smile on her face as she watched the kids. It was strange. She didn't even know them outside of her tutoring sessions with Rory, but I'd never really seen that look on her face before… except when I said she could watch the Games with us. Maybe I just didn't pay enough attention. Maybe she always had that look on her face, and they were nothing special to her. But something about the way she looked when she was helping my family… it has just stayed with me. It's probably why I decided to stop being an asshole that night. Okay, why I decided to _try _to stop being an asshole. It's all a process.

Like I'd predicted, even the small helping had Posy complaining of a stomachache about thirty seconds after shoveling down her last forkful of food. Hell, she may have even still been chewing. Hazelle took her to get ready for bed, and I started clearing the table. I figured Madge would just go sit with Rory and Vick. Rich girl wouldn't really know what to do with dirty dishes anyway. Didn't they hire people like my mother to handle that sort of thing for them? So when she stood in my way at the sink, humming softly as she actually washed—not just dumped into the sink, but _washed_—our dirty dishes, I just about dropped everything I was holding on the spot.

"Uh, you don't have to do that," I mumbled, nudging my shoulder against hers to force my way into her place. I plopped my own haul of soiled dinnerware into the sink with an unceremonious plunk.

Her nose wrinkled at the tinkling sound the plates made. Or maybe I should've gotten a bath before she came over. Whatever. "I've got it," she insisted, grabbing another plate and scrubbing it clean. Her smooth, pale hands and long, thin fingers didn't look like they were made for this kind of grunt work. Just looking at them, I'd have been surprised if she'd ever done this in her life. But… she did seem like she knew what she was doing. And not in a this-is-common-sense kind of way but more of a methodical, practiced way. Okay, so maybe even the mayor's daughter had chores. That didn't change anything. She was still a spoiled little rich girl. Right?

I scooted around to the other side of her and held out my hand—dark, scarred, rough, calloused, and completely appropriately adorned for grunt work—for the dish she'd just finished. I thought I caught the corners of her mouth tugging up as she handed it over and watched me dry it. I felt warmth race up my arm when her fingers brushed against mine. And her smile grew. "What?" I asked when she tried to hide her expression by dipping her head.

"Nothing," she insisted, clearing her throat of the chuckle she was clearly holding back.

"Did you think I didn't know how to do this or something?" I had to ask. Mainly because it'd been what I was thinking about her. But maybe I didn't wanna know why she was ready to laugh at me. I never really thought about things like that back then… that maybe she could say something that would totally change things between us… that maybe she would make me feel something that messed up this whole distant, awkward sort of truce between us. I should've learned my lesson from the other night when she got all let's-be-friends on me, but I never really was a quick learner.

"It's just cute," she shrugged her shoulder and passed me some dripping silverware. They clattered to the counter in front of me, making me jump again. This time she definitely saw. I couldn't even care.

_Cute? What the fuck does she mean by cute? I don't think anyone's ever called me cute in my whole fucking life… and I've been more than okay with that, thanks._ "I should go check on the kids," I mumbled and turned my back on her, allowing her to finish _my _family's dishes. She wanted to clean them anyway!

I padded across the floor and sank down on the sofa between my brothers. They were both smirking. Great. So they'd clearly been watching us instead of the television. I should've known this was a bad idea from the beginning. "You two are gonna wanna wipe those smiles off your faces," I growled, eyeing each of them with a dangerous glower. But for once… it didn't work.

"You like her," Rory accused, his smirk actually growing. Not only was he gonna get his ass kicked for being a shithead, I was also gonna have to explain to mom that he was clearly losing his mind.

"Shut it," I grumbled.

Then Vick chimed in. "Gaaale liiikes Maaadge," he sang. Rory joined him. Oh, that was it. They were dead. Or one of them was sleeping on the floor for a week while I, for once, got a bed to myself. Huh. Yeah, that should do it. I was just about to make my threat over their singsong accusations of my non-existent feelings for Madge when… she walked into the room. Yeah, right about then would've been the perfect time for the earth to open up under my sofa cushion and just swallow me right up. Unfortunately, luck never did seem to be on my side, and I stayed firmly planted in my living room and the horrible reality that was my life. I was waiting for her to rush out of the house, appalled by the implication that some Seam scrub might want her. Not that it was true. They were just being stupid. And soon they'd be stupid and floor-bound. For a month this time.

She didn't leave, though. She didn't even look annoyed. In fact, there was that smile again. What _was _that look? The boys shut up the minute they noticed she'd caught them, but the damage was done.

"Who likes Maaadge?" she crooned back at them playfully. "Could it be… Vick!" She plucked him off the couch and blew raspberries on his cheeks while he squealed with laughter.

"Nooo, it wasn't meee!" he snorted a laugh louder than I'd heard in months as she tickled under his arm.

"Ooo then it must've been Rory!" she grinned over at my other brother who scrambled off the couch and held his hands up, apparently more afraid of being tickled by a pretty girl than beaten down by his big brother. Umm… that'd have to change.

"It was _so _not me!" he insisted, his floppy dark hair falling into his eyes as he jumped out of her grasp again.

She caught him and tickled his sides until tears ran down his cheeks. "Hmm, yeah, I definitely think it was you," she told Rory as she used her sleeve to wipe the wet trails off of his flushed face. Then she pressed a kiss to his forehead, and his olive skin turned more like tomato-red.

"Alright boys, settle down, it's time," Hazelle announced as she appeared in the entrance to the living room and knelt down to turn the television on. Rory looked a little deflated, but he settled back down on the couch next to me, eyeing me kind of warily. Yeah, I'd get him back when he least expected it. I anticipated having Vick sit on my other side, but he hopped into Hazelle's lap on her chair… leaving his space empty for Madge.

An unusually rosy tint dusted her cheeks as she squeezed into the spot next to me on the sofa. Her fingers brushed mine as she adjusted her skirt, and it felt like I'd been jolted with electricity. She had probably just dragged her feet across the carpet before she sat down. Right? Right. Of course that was all it was. I swallowed hard and kept telling myself that, even as my eyes kept drifting to her hands resting in her lap. It was gonna be a long night.


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